In several of Martin O’Neill’s 11 games in charge this season Celtic have been poor, the recent outing at Falkirk a case in point. What’s clear, though, is Martin’s winning mindset. Even when under pressure (late against Dundee) or facing several great chances (Falkirk), there was a high degree of confidence Celtic would get the job done.
In all honesty, the Europa League seems like a distraction this week. The Scottish Premiership is all important and a visit to Edinburgh on Sunday weighs heavy on the mind. That will not be how Martin O’Neill sees things, though. That mindset will not allow anything other than the execution of a plan to win the game. His first 11 will start the Europa League game on Thursday and – successful or not – they will take the field with confidence they can deliver.
You and I have watched too many Celtic away games in Europe to be too optimistic about the outcome. Still, some of us have many reasons to never underestimate Martin O’Neill.
211 Comments- Pages:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- »
What’s the share price doing Tam?
Happy Wednesday eve!
And happy Tuesday afternoon to you Aipple.
My Kingdom for a Signing.
Beaton is VAR at Tynecastle. The SFA is showing the middle finger to Celtic.
Nottaclue1 @ 10:29 am,
“Hypothetically…..
If I had a really top level manager that I knew was angling to leave for another job?
I might make it public that I wanted him to extend his contract (£)
I might even be VERY annoyed that he didn’t sign said extension and broadcast it …..
Hypothetically :)
Well, it seems there is a point in there but I’m not getting it!?
Brendan Rodgers was not planning on going anywhere in the summer, in fact he stated he wanted to see out his three year contract and was planning accordingly.
Dermot Desmond and Micheal Nicholson discussed in private, the possibility of an extended contract with Brendan Rodgers in June 2025.
Although no formal offer was made both Celtic and Brendan Rodgers were negotiating that possibility.
At the time, Burnley78 erroneously told CQN that Brendan Rodgers had been offered a contract extension and had rejected it.
This was wrong in three ways…
Firstly for Burnley78 to make private negotiations public on social media
Secondly no formal offer had been put to Brendan by Celtic
Thirdly Brendan Rodgers had not rejected the idea of extending his contract with Celtic, in fact he was actively considering it.
After Burnley78 erroneous comment on CQN, it was picked up by the SMSM and became a topic of BR’s media conferences.
This was one of the subjects in Dermot Desmond’s diatribe against Brendan Rodgers.
Official Site – 27 Oct 2025, 9:59 pm
…In June, both Michael Nicholson and I expressed to Brendan that we were keen to offer him a contract extension, to reaffirm the club’s full backing and long-term commitment to him. He said he would need to think about it and revert. Yet in subsequent press conferences, Brendan implied that the club had made no commitment to offer him a contract. That was simply untrue.
Obviously Dermot Desmond had not been listening or viewing Brendan Rodgers media conferences during the summer – probably more important items of business such as the Barchester deal
If he had actually listened to the media conferences, he would know that Brendan had stated quite clearly that he had talked to Dermot Desmond and Micheal Nicholson about extending his time at Celtic and was actively considering it.
This was totally at odds with what DD put in his statement and those media conferences where Brendan clearly stated he was considering extending his contract and this is a matter of record – it can very easily be verified.
So the question remains, who leaked the information to Burnley78 and was it him or the leaker that put the erroneous spin on it?
I asked him but he did not clarify.
The other point, who briefed Dermot Desmond and lied about the fact that Brendan had stated – “that the club had made no commitment to offer him a contract”
These seem key matters in the deterioration of the relationship between Dermot Desmond and Brendan Rodgers and it seems some within the Celtic hierarchy and Burnley78 was at the heart of this mischief.
It seems ridiculous to conclude that the mess our Club is currently in seems at least in part, to have been inflicted by saboteurs within Celtic’s hierarchy and social media, yet what other conclusion is there?
Hail Hail
DENIABHOY re: My Kingdom for a Signing.
Is your kingdom Greenland?
Asking for a friend.
It’s what we do. Pile everything on an exceptional manager and hope he can work miracles despite the clown show upstairs.
Aipple – funnily enough my Grandfather was Danish.
DENIABHOY – Time to get you suited up.
Pat Nevin saying we should gamble on Jesse Lingard,
Ha!
CHAIRBHOY on 20TH JANUARY 2026 12:04 PM
“At the time, Burnley78 erroneously told CQN that Brendan Rodgers had been offered a contract extension and had rejected it.
This was wrong in three ways…
Firstly for Burnley78 to make private negotiations public on social media
Secondly no formal offer had been put to Brendan by Celtic
Thirdly Brendan Rodgers had not rejected the idea of extending his contract with Celtic, in fact he was actively considering it.
After Burnley78 erroneous comment on CQN, it was picked up by the SMSM and became a topic of BR’s media conferences.”
Get a grip.
bournesouprecipe on 19th January 2026 10:26 pm
Nygren was Engels replacement- you heard it here first.
——————
As well as being our new striker…….
Paul writes: ‘In all honesty, the Europa League seems like a distraction this week. The Scottish Premiership is all important and a visit to Edinburgh on Sunday weighs heavy on the mind.’
That should have come with a trigger warning for me Paul.
We’re only dicking around in the Europa cos the brainiacs in the boardroom elected to let a great manager go. Having decided that Adamball, Arneball and Austonball were unwise buys, they snapped their man-purses shut and – despite the encouraging playing progress at Atalanta and Bayern – sent BR out to Kairat with a stressed and striker free squad. That, jeopardised our spot in the ECl, meaning we now play in the Downsize Cup.
And 20 days into the window – as others have said – every club smells our desperation and will hijack us to the max when we look to patch up our side with mibby mights, misfits and misfiring, with deals done at the 11th hour cos that’s where the smart money operates.
FurFuxAche CSC
ONIL
from previous thread
was tongue in cheek !
Aipple
v good :)
Difficult choice for Martin. Go in half-cocked and run the risk of a confidence-damaging doing. We know this team has it in them to fall apart if they’re faced with a decent, well-drilled one.
We need everything possible on our side on Sunday in terms of fitness and injuries, but go into any game, particularly a high profile one like Thursday with anything less than 100% commitment sends out a weak message to the players.
A battling draw, or even a creditable defeat sets us up far better for Sunday than a meak surrender IMO.
Happy St Fabian Day, all! Ave Ave
Petition:
One Celtic. Back our Board, our Players, and Martin O’Neill.
https://c.org/Z2h9XxwJyx
Paul 67,
Firstly, thank you for the time and effort to give us this much needed and valued platform.
I completely disagree that European football is a distraction.
For a club with its long unbroken history and stature , European football is a prize that we must embrace and cherish.
I believe this no matter our domestic circumstances.
HH.
Lots more discussion and comms on unity from this guy than ours…
Brian Doug Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys
link for sionnaigh
https://www.nhsggc.scot/your-health/right-care-right-place/mental-health/
As a negotiation team we must be the laughing stock out there.
Desperation is not a good look .
Selling club £3m you must be joking come back with £5m .
Nicholson puts on his petty lip ,then picks up the phone to DD ,Help,,,
Shambles HH
Read the Israeli agents explanation of why the Ta Bi deal went pear shaped.
‘We spotted a problem at his medical but in the meantime we got a better offer so we told Celtic the deal was off (because of the problem) and sold him for a few million sheckle’s more.
Oh and by the way , it is all the Celtic fans fault’
Celtic FFS do not deal with Israeli clubs or Israeli agents.
…..and O’Riley’s replacement…….
Would the Europa League be a ‘distraction’ if Brendan Rodgers was in charge. . . .
Cutting ones cloth to suit.
The teams muscle memory is still Brodgeball where we are determined not to lose possession by passing to the free/ spare man. Thinking being whilst we have the ball the other lot don’t an and hence can’t score. MON and Shaun have changed this by going more direct on occasion.
We run into serious trouble when the opposition (Mitdyland, Roma, Well and Falkirk) do a super press resulting in us not having a spare man. Our midfield has trouble holding a man off , our centre backs movement of the ball is average results in us coughing up chances.
If Bologna do a Roma on us then we’ll be in trouble ; if they do a Feyenoord then we have a chance of getting something from the game.
I have no clue which way it will go.
Team selection is a bit tricky , I’m assuming that Tony and Johnny will be too much of a risk for this game, so likely to be:
Kasper
Colby Auston Liam Kieran
Arne. Calum Reo
Yang. Daizen Seb
Fingerscrossedcfc
Funnily enough it was Nygren who scored the winner in our only win in the first three games in the Europa against Sturm Graz
Without it we’re sitting in 29th on 5 points.
Well, it seems there is a point in there but I’m not getting it!?
The clue was in the pound sign , thinking our board were looking for another payday to buy out his contract, only a lot more than they got from Leister.
Just a musing with no evidence :)
Glasstwothirds
Jota was Kyogo’s replacement read it on here. 👍
“Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland out for weeks and will miss games against Celtic, Rangers (sic), Hibs, etc ” Edinburgh Evening News
Shankland not a great player, but a predator and tidy finisher. This has to be advantageous (although I’m sorry for the player himself), since we have to attack on Sunday and risk leaving gaps at the back.
A business that not only takes its ‘customers’ for granted but treats them with open contempt is a business run by morons.
Morons.
Hilariously downsized expectation management now on this blog. Pitiful.
Shankland out for 2 months.Watch them get someone in before Sunday
Bologna are on a run of form that is Nancy like. 1 win in their last 9, and that win came against the side sitting bottom of Serie A.
But it’s just distraction. The gaslighting continues unabated.
The Bada Bing – we’ve offered them Kenny.
Just watched a few highlights of Bologna games , defence looks shaky sadly their forwards look pretty capable and have scored some cracking goals.
Veryworriedcfc.
You might well ask what’s the share price doing. With the board shutting out customers and the most doubtful prospect of getting into the lucrative Champions League since Covid, the share price is the highest it has been for years.
just wondering why the Europa League has become a distraction?
Didn’t one of our head honchos say this:
As a Board, we take responsibility for the failure to achieve that key objective and commit to improving going forward. We now look ahead to our Europa League fixtures against FK Crvena Zvezda, SC Braga, SK Sturm Graz, FC Midtjylland, Feyenoord, AS Roma, Bologna FC 1909 and FC Utrecht, where we will hope to perform strongly and progress in the competition.
Perhaps he meant to add, “Until the board and I make a right royal pig’s ear of everything.’
EKBhoy on 20th January 2026 12:55 pm
Just watched a few highlights of Bologna games , defence looks shaky sadly their forwards look pretty capable and have scored some cracking goals.
Veryworriedcfc.
—–
At least we won’t be playing 3 at the back. Nancy in the EL was a recurring nightmare for me after the Roma game could have ended 7-0.
Oh, and the Europa League being a distraction might have worth knowing before parting with £280 for tickets for my son and I.